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Hi,
It will probably take some time until I'll get my phone, but I am trying to understand how to start.
I am OK with having only English on my phone, but I would prefer to have a clean and bloat free rom that has the GAPPS and that can get OTA updates.
I want to do the minimum needed to get this, I really don't want to change roms every other week.
How should I start? I am a bit lost.
Is the Chinese rom that bad?
Should I change the rom and root it?
Thanks in advance,
Asaf
I think this should be in the Q&A forum
It sounds like you want a stable ROM with Gapps. Xiaomi offer several ROM types. If you want Gapps included from the start, you want their stable international ROM. The trouble is that at the moment they don't do one for the XRN2 yet. Head over to en.miui.com, pick a phone that has been around for longer and in the download section for that device you will see the different ROM types (there are tabs at the top of each phone section). There are also a couple of great explanatory pages in their forum that guide you through the different ROM types.
Use the xiaomi.eu ROM. Multilanguage, clean and with Gapps. OTA also included
Sent from my Redmi Note 2 using Tapatalk
First, get TWRP installed in your phone.
Then flash a stable rom
At the end, install proper gapp using TWRP.
Thanks.
So
1. Install TWRP, will this link should be enough to install it? http://en.miui.com/thread-156838-1-1.html
2. Go to http://xiaomi.eu --> ROMs DOWNLOAD and take the DOWNLOAD WEEKLY rom (http://miuif.celogeek.com/5.9.10/xiaomi.eu_multi_hermes_5.9.11_v7-5.0.zip)?
shemsha said:
Thanks.
So
1. Install TWRP, will this link should be enough to install it? http://en.miui.com/thread-156838-1-1.html
2. Go to http://xiaomi.eu --> ROMs DOWNLOAD and take the DOWNLOAD WEEKLY rom (http://miuif.celogeek.com/5.9.10/xiaomi.eu_multi_hermes_5.9.11_v7-5.0.zip)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BUT, you said you don't want to have to flash a new ROM every week. The xiaomi.EU weekly ROMs are a beta ROM, they are not the same as the 'stable' ROM. I'm using the weekly version just fine, but there are a few bugs. This ROM may or may not suit your needs. Please be aware of that As soon as Xiaomi release the official stable International ROM with Gapps, that's the one you want (based on your stated requirements).
Thanks
So perhaps I'll wait, hopefully it will come up soon enough.
Hope the Chinese rom isn't too bad...
shemsha said:
Thanks
So perhaps I'll wait, hopefully it will come up soon enough.
Hope the Chinese rom isn't too bad...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first ROM I flashed was the stable ROM from MIUI.com. At the moment this is available as Chinese only (with only Chinese and English languages on board). It is also MIUI version 6 not 7. You do not need TWRP installed to flash this. You can just download it straight to internal storage, then use the Xiaomi updater app (which is already on the phone) to manually flash it. This ROM is not rooted.
Next I tried the weekly ROM from MIUI.com. At that point I incorrectly thought that it would be multi language, but it wasn't. It did at least have MIUI 7 on board though. TWRP is also not needed to flash this. This ROM is rooted. Root settings can be accessed via the Security app. You can also install SuperSU, grant it root access, then use it to control the root access of other apps if you wish. There are no Google apps on board. I was on n holiday at the time so I manually placed all the relevant files, set permissions and so on using ES File explorer that I side loaded and granted root privileges to. Yes, my girlfriend thought it was very romantic of me to spend a whole evening split between doing this and hunting some particularly aggressive mosquitoes trapped in our room. Only the best for my love.
Finally I downloaded the latest weekly (not stable) ROM from from Xiaomi.EU. As well as being a beta, it is not an official Xiaomi ROM. They do also have a stable ROM in offer, but it is not rooted. Basic Google apps are installed. TWRP is not needed here either. However, I installed it briefly to make a full backup of my phone, and a separate backup of the NVRAM portion of the device where the IMEI resides. Experience tells me this is important on an MTK phone in case the area becomes corrupt during an incorrect flash. You can also use SPFlash Tools to do this from a computer. Google the process, it's well worth being prepared. Damian Parsons over on GizBeat and China Phone Arena has done some useful tutorials with videos. Make sure you have the right version of SPFlash tools (which is not the same as MTKdroidtools -or something like that). I have only used a couple of times with my first two MTK phones so I don't know what version you need to use with this chipset.
For my purposes NONE of these ROMs actually fit the bill. Why? Because none of them so far allow me to select UK English as the default language or select the UK as the region I'm in. It's a small thing, but the last three Chinese phones I've had all suffered from the same problem. I end up rooting and using More Locales app to create a new default language code over and above selecting UK English in Google keyboard.
Once Xiaomi release an official global ROM the download page for the Note 2 will look like in the attached screenshot which shows the Mi4 page. Note the two tabs at the top, global and Chinese, in addition to the 'stable' and 'developer' sections down the left hand side.
Please somebody correct me if I'm wrong because I'm new to Xiaomi devices
Thanks for the detailed response.
Sounds like that for my purposes, and until an official rom is out, the easiest option is either the latest weekly or stable from xiaomi.eu.
I understand they can be installed using xiaomi updater as well?
Yes, you can install them the same way as official ROMs.
shemsha said:
Thanks for the detailed response.
Sounds like that for my purposes, and until an official rom is out, the easiest option is either the latest weekly or stable from xiaomi.eu.
I understand they can be installed using xiaomi updater as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, when I received my phone there was a lot of non-MIUI related bloatware and possibly malware on board. It was multi language (with UK English as a built in option) but it all felt wrong, slow and dodgy. Reading elsewhere it was recommended the best thing to do was flash a ROM from a PC using the fastboot method to erase everything, then start from there. There are fastboot ROMs with instructions on the en.miui.com site. If you think you need to, you could flash via fastboot, then download your subsequent choice of ROM from xiaomi.EU and flash that however you please. As I was away (and impatient) I didn't do the first flash via fastboot. I just did a full wipe from the stock recovery, then put a ROM into internal memory, then flashed it from the stock recovery, then factory reset again. No idea if that was sufficient, but there's no sign of the extra apps any more.
You don't need TWRP
Sent from my Redmi Note 2 using Tapatalk
Ouzo said:
I installed it briefly to make a full backup of my phone, and a separate backup of the NVRAM portion of the device where the IMEI resides. Experience tells me this is important on an MTK phone in case the area becomes corrupt during an incorrect flash. You can also use SPFlash Tools to do this from a computer. Google the process, it's well worth being prepared. Damian Parsons over on GizBeat and China Phone Arena has done some useful tutorials with videos. Make sure you have the right version of SPFlash tools (which is not the same as MTKdroidtools -or something like that). I have only used a couple of times with my first two MTK phones so I don't know what version you need to use with this chipset.
For my purposes NONE of these ROMs actually fit the bill. Why? Because none of them so far allow me to select UK English as the default language or select the UK as the region I'm in. It's a small thing, but the last three Chinese phones I've had all suffered from the same problem. I end up rooting and using More Locales app to create a new default language code over and above selecting UK English in Google keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info, this is great for me. I will follow what you said regarding backing up this NVRAM you speak of, as I just read that the source code for the Helios X10 has been released, so we can expect more people including members of the HTC M9+ forum playing around with code.
It would be nice to have an option for UK English (or Australian English for me, to be precise) however I haven't noticed much of a difference, maybe because I have Swiftkey installed and that already has the correct language setting.
zan5hin said:
Thanks for the info, this is great for me. I will follow what you said regarding backing up this NVRAM you speak of, as I just read that the source code for the Helios X10 has been released, so we can expect more people including members of the HTC M9+ forum playing around with code.
It would be nice to have an option for UK English (or Australian English for me, to be precise) however I haven't noticed much of a difference, maybe because I have Swiftkey installed and that already has the correct language setting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Changing the language to UK English is only part of the problem for me. Basically the phone thinks I'm in the U.S, or rather, that I have a U.S phone in the UK. This can cause problems within apps that want tailor content to my region code (or even deny me content). I've tried editing the build.prop a little, but it doesn't seem to help.
Mobile Uncle tools (free in Play Store) used to be able to back up one's IMEI number, but it didn't work on this phone. Dunno if that's because it runs lollipop. Anyway, that's why TWRP was handy and I will try using SPFlashTools again at some point.
Hello,
My Redmi note 2 does not do the automatic updates via the updater app and I am stuck on 5.9.2 beta.
I realized that I probably do not have an official rom (since I have GoogleAppStore) and that might be the reason why the updater will not connect to the servers.
So I think I would be better off wiping and flashing my phone to reinstall a rom. My question is this: which rom should I install ? I see a lot off different stuff that I do not understand, Official, Hermes, Global, Xiamo.eu etc... All of this is very confusing to me. All the threads consists in installation guide and are not very clear on what are the differences between theses roms.
Ideally I would need an english rom, without the chineese apps, with the GoogleStore and that could be upgraded automatically without having to wipe the phone every time.
I also see that the 5.10.15/16 miui rom is running on a new version of android. Do I need to make the android upgrade myself or does it come with the rom ? Should I be worried about bugs, loss of performance/battery life with these new roms and android version ? What are the real improvements ?
Thanks a lot !
Cheers
Where did you see that 5.10.15 works on a new version of android? I din't see anything... I only saw that it changed the sign, that now is private, so we need TWRP for update unofficial miui rom (if we want gapps and multilanguage)
For the rom:
Hermes is the codename of our device. Our roms names are HMNote2 or Hermes.
Xiaomi.eu is an european translation site. It create a weekly rom multilanguage. From miui v7 his OTA update (yes, xiaomi.eu release OTA updates) don't work fine. Update manualy downloading the rom and then installing it from updater
Global is as the xiaomi.eu rom but it's official. There isn't a global rom for our phone yet.
Official. For now the official roms are only the v6 stable and the v7 china developer. Only chinese and english and no gapps.
~ Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Prime ~
kirikoukirikou said:
Hello,
My Redmi note 2 does not do the automatic updates via the updater app and I am stuck on 5.9.2 beta.
I realized that I probably do not have an official rom (since I have GoogleAppStore) and that might be the reason why the updater will not connect to the servers.
So I think I would be better off wiping and flashing my phone to reinstall a rom. My question is this: which rom should I install ? I see a lot off different stuff that I do not understand, Official, Hermes, Global, Xiamo.eu etc... All of this is very confusing to me. All the threads consists in installation guide and are not very clear on what are the differences between theses roms.
Ideally I would need an english rom, without the chineese apps, with the GoogleStore and that could be upgraded automatically without having to wipe the phone every time.
I also see that the 5.10.15/16 miui rom is running on a new version of android. Do I need to make the android upgrade myself or does it come with the rom ? Should I be worried about bugs, loss of performance/battery life with these new roms and android version ? What are the real improvements ?
Thanks a lot !
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The official Xaiomi ROM is MIUI 7 and it came out for the phone at the same time as the hardware launch. The ROM can be downloaded here. You can pick between the developer version that's updated weekly or the stable version that is updated every six months. I believe they come with Google Apps. The ROM contains the OS so you don't need to worry about upgrading separate software. You can mostly just read about the ROM's on other threads on forums (and I suggest going to the official MIUI forums).
To flash the ROM, you can download the PC updater as well at the link.
SkiFire13 said:
Where did you see that 5.10.15 works on a new version of android? I din't see anything... I only saw that it changed the sign, that now is private, so we need TWRP for update unofficial miui rom (if we want gapps and multilanguage)
For the rom:
Hermes is the codename of our device. Our roms names are HMNote2 or Hermes.
Xiaomi.eu is an european translation site. It create a weekly rom multilanguage. From miui v7 his OTA update (yes, xiaomi.eu release OTA updates) don't work fine. Update manualy downloading the rom and then installing it from updater
Global is as the xiaomi.eu rom but it's official. There isn't a global rom for our phone yet.
Official. For now the official roms are only the v6 stable and the v7 china developer. Only chinese and english and no gapps.
~ Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Prime ~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
First of all, let me thank you for your answer.
Does this mean I should install this rom ? xiaomi.eu community threads 5-10-15-16.28809
And then do my weekly updates manually by unzipping the files ?
About the android update, you will see in the second post on the link I just sent:
"[System]
New - Android version upgraded to 5.1.1. Please note that users cannot go back to older developer version after this update, otherwise your device might face severe damages such as not able to make calls (Mi Note Pro) (10-09)"
SkiFire13 said:
Where did you see that 5.10.15 works on a new version of android? I din't see anything... I only saw that it changed the sign, that now is private, so we need TWRP for update unofficial miui rom (if we want gapps and multilanguage)
For the rom:
Hermes is the codename of our device. Our roms names are HMNote2 or Hermes.
Xiaomi.eu is an european translation site. It create a weekly rom multilanguage. From miui v7 his OTA update (yes, xiaomi.eu release OTA updates) don't work fine. Update manualy downloading the rom and then installing it from updater
Global is as the xiaomi.eu rom but it's official. There isn't a global rom for our phone yet.
Official. For now the official roms are only the v6 stable and the v7 china developer. Only chinese and english and no gapps.
~ Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Prime ~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
from xiaomi site they said the first global rom v7 will be the 10/27 so you can wait one week to get it on xiaomi miui eu.
tailslol said:
from xiaomi site they said the first global rom v7 will be the 10/27 so you can wait one week to get it on xiaomi miui eu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha great, I am just in the process of installing the Xiaomi.eu weekly rom...
Anyway thank you all for your answers.
I am installing the Xiaomi.eu 5.10.16 weekly. From what I understand I will need to patch and upgrade by downloading the .zip file manually.
kirikoukirikou said:
Haha great, I am just in the process of installing the Xiaomi.eu weekly rom...
Anyway thank you all for your answers.
I am installing the Xiaomi.eu 5.10.16 weekly. From what I understand I will need to patch and upgrade by downloading the .zip file manually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
with luck the rom you have come with a update installer included,the miui france got one so they can update it really easily just by running the app,but it is french only. it come with gapps and i think all dev roms are rooted by default. you acces root permission in the security center.
kirikoukirikou said:
Hi,
About the android update, you will see in the second post on the link I just sent:
"[System]
New - Android version upgraded to 5.1.1. Please note that users cannot go back to older developer version after this update, otherwise your device might face severe damages such as not able to make calls (Mi Note Pro) (10-09)"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was excited about upgrading to 5.1.1. On rereading the post, I interpreted it to apply to only one phone, the Mi Note Pro.
Sent from my Asus Zenpad S 8.0
Explore3 said:
I was excited about upgrading to 5.1.1. On rereading the post, I interpreted it to apply to only one phone, the Mi Note Pro.
Sent from my Asus Zenpad S 8.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I though the phone was mentionned because the but bug was reported on this one...
SkiFire13 said:
Hermes is the codename of our device. Our roms names are HMNote2 or Hermes.
Xiaomi.eu is an european translation site. It create a weekly rom multilanguage.
From miui v7 his OTA update (yes, xiaomi.eu release OTA updates) don't work fine. Update manualy downloading the rom and then installing it from updater. these miui v7 roms atm are the beta/alpha versions before they finalise a stable vision.
Global rom is as the xiaomi.eu rom but it's official. Usually the 'stable' release/version after all the beta/alpha stages.
There isn't a global rom for our phone yet.
Official. Original releases from xiaomi.com team at china, real official.
For now the official roms are only the v6 stable and the v7 china developer. Only chinese and english and no gapps.
~ Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Prime ~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So ideally, for us non-chinese preferred/english/google users, we would like to be on the Global version.
Hope this helps more :silly:
aliguu said:
So ideally, for us non-chinese preferred/english/google users, we would like to be on the Global version.
Hope this helps more :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for the non chinese the best could be a aosp rom without miui.
they are a lot more stock,you will find them in the forum if you want.
MIUI isn't better than AOSP and AOSP isn't better than MIUI. I prefer MIUI, another persons can prefer AOSP.
The best miui version... Global and Xiaomi.eu can be good, but the translations are a bit old (a week behind). All the translations community release a ROM that contain the latest rom with that language translated.
So for example miui.it release the miui with the latest italian translation, miui.es with the latest spain translation ecc ecc
~ Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Prime ~
SkiFire13 said:
MIUI isn't better than AOSP and AOSP isn't better than MIUI. I prefer MIUI, another persons can prefer AOSP.
The best miui version... Global and Xiaomi.eu can be good, but the translations are a bit old (a week behind). All the translations community release a ROM that contain the latest rom with that language translated.
So for example miui.it release the miui with the latest italian translation, miui.es with the latest spain translation ecc ecc
~ Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Prime ~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
miui is full of untranslated chinese bloatware and has no voice reconisation,limited hand free fonctions with bluetooth headset for example and block a lots of tweaks.
google now can be used but it will not work in hand free mode and you cant assign to a bluetooth or wired headset without unlock the phone.but the user interface and security is great.
on the other hand aosp roms have all hand free fonction intact with no chinese bloatware . but you will lose the miui avantages (the ui and security tweaks),aosp is very stock but you can add your launcher and extra apps and fonction like xposed (walkman/xperia stuff or dolby atmos...)
tailslol said:
miui is full of untranslated chinese bloatware and has no voice reconisation,limited hand free fonctions with bluetooth headset for example and block a lots of tweaks.
google now can be used but it will not work in hand free mode and you cant assign to a bluetooth or wired headset without unlock the phone.but the user interface and security is great.
on the other hand aosp roms have all hand free fonction intact with no chinese bloatware . but you will lose the miui avantages (the ui and security tweaks),aosp is very stock but you can add your launcher and extra apps and fonction like xposed (walkman/xperia stuff or dolby atmos...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see chinese bloatware untranslated... Are you using the chinese developer rom or a xiaomi.eu rom? And which language?
I never had problems with miui.
I don't need extra functions because all that I need is in miui.
I like miui style, and I didn't find anything similar to it on AOSP or CM themes. Or I'm wrong?
Ps I don't understand the launcher thing... I can also change it on miui...
SkiFire13 said:
I don't see chinese bloatware untranslated... Are you using the chinese developer rom or a xiaomi.eu rom? And which language?
I never had problems with miui.
I don't need extra functions because all that I need is in miui.
I like miui style, and I didn't find anything similar to it on AOSP or CM themes. Or I'm wrong?
Ps I don't understand the launcher thing... I can also change it on miui...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am using the french dev rom for the moment with included root ,gapps and ota updater.
well yes you can change the launcher in miui but it takes lots of ram by default,
the chinese browser,the mi market,kuaipan are bloatware not realy nicely translated.
the music ,market,gallery,fm radio,video and theme app have a lots of chinese unstranslated shop pages and those shops are not usefull at all here.
especialy the untranslated themes that add chinese part to your phone.
and to me the lack of hand free voice reconisation on a phone is just a killer .
tailslol said:
i am using the french dev rom for the moment with included root ,gapps and ota updater.
well yes you can change the launcher in miui but it takes lots of ram by default,
the chinese browser,the mi market,kuaipan are bloatware not realy nicely translated.
the music ,market,gallery,fm radio,video and theme app have a lots of chinese unstranslated shop pages and those shops are not usefull at all here.
especialy the untranslated themes that add chinese part to your phone.
and to me the lack of hand free voice reconisation on a phone is just a killer .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in xiaomi.eu rom (italian language):
-Browser -> translated (and the default page is google)
-MiMarket -> removed
-Kuaipan -> translated and integrated in File Manager (so you can use only File Manager)
-Music, Video -> online services removed
-Gallery, FM Radio -> no chinese services...
-Themes -> Nobody translate the themes, only the official themes are translated
-Free Voice Reconisation -> Just install an app for it. in my opinion this technology is too slow so I use the keyboard
So, what is the problem? Maybe you are using the wrong ROM?
SkiFire13 said:
in xiaomi.eu rom (italian language):
-Browser -> translated (and the default page is google)
-MiMarket -> removed
-Kuaipan -> translated and integrated in File Manager (so you can use only File Manager)
-Music, Video -> online services removed
-Gallery, FM Radio -> no chinese services...
-Themes -> Nobody translate the themes, only the official themes are translated
-Free Voice Reconisation -> Just install an app for it. in my opinion this technology is too slow so I use the keyboard
So, what is the problem? Maybe you are using the wrong ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well do you have root?
my security center has root manager.
and as i said the hand free mode of most 3rd party apps cant be used in miui because it just does not allow to be trigered by a headset without unlocking the phone.
and as i am seeing your miui have lots of stuff removed.
does it support natively french language ?
i did not flash the rom myself,
when i purchased my phone on xiaomi france site,i
had this rom on it. i receive an ota update every weeks so i am guessing it is the most untouched miui you can get.
Yes, I have root.
Xiaomi.eu roms supports French
I don't know what rom you have, usualy stock roms aren't very good
~ Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Prime ~
SkiFire13 said:
Yes, I have root.
Xiaomi.eu roms supports French
I don't know what rom you have, usualy stock roms aren't very good
~ Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Prime ~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
miui france dev rom 7 5.10.22 beta
edit : oki i looked the issue closely and it seems 2 groups are actuly translating miui in french...
miui france provide a untouched rom and xiaomi eu make a global rom with most chinese services removed.
i switched by using the included update app and it removed most chinese stuff.
but the hand free limitation is still a problem...
Try this. On my phone work
~ Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Prime ~
Got my Mix yesterday - set it up last night.
I was apprehensive with everyone talking about different ROMs, unlock codes, rooting, throttling, etc etc.
Mine came with MIUI Global 8.0.7.0.0 with Google appstore already installed. The packaging was sealed.
Downloaded apps at about 3.5 megabytes per second (as shown by the notification bar connection speed widget).
SMS works fine.
Calling works fine.
I even get 4G on O2 (in the UK). I live in Leeds so it's one of those cities where O2 are using 1800 mhz for 4G as well as the usual 800 Mhz which Mix can't do.
All my banking apps work fine.
I've got Nova Prime on it. MIUI has some nice tweaks built in. There's no bloatware on it at all.
Also, compared to the Lumia 950XL I had for a year, it's about 2 mm wider and that's about it.
I've been using an S7 Edge for the last couple of months and set up wise, there's no difference. Everything just works out of the box. No flashing, tweaking, rooting etc.
Fingerprint reader is faster than S7. It can also wake the phone as well. Double tap to wake is there too.
If I didn't know better, I'd say this was just any other Android phone bought in the UK, instead of a China import where people have been talking about flashing EU ROM etc and having other issues.
Funniest thing about it is that once you get over the initial WOW factor of the screen, you just get used to it. It's only when you look at other phones you think, haha your phone looks like it's from the 1970s.
Only thing I haven't really tried is the camera. Pretty sure it won't be up to 950XL or S7 standards but I've installed Snap Camera so let's see if it's half decent.
Great phone so far.
Just depends if your happy with vendor rom and no updates as long as you own the phone, I removed vendor rom and have had 2 updates since with like yourself no issues.
Where did you get your Mix? Mine also had that ROM but I flashed the China ROM since it wasn't getting OTA updates. Your Mix might be fine for now but I hear the spyware/malware stuff works like a trojan horse, I'd recommend flashing now, your bootloader is probably already unlocked. Just install the China ROM and skip the EU ROM or rooting if you want.
slitz123 said:
Where did you get your Mix? Mine also had that ROM but I flashed the China ROM since it wasn't getting OTA updates. Your Mix might be fine for now but I hear the spyware/malware stuff works like a trojan horse, I'd recommend flashing now, your bootloader is probably already unlocked. Just install the China ROM and skip the EU ROM or rooting if you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed and I skipped rooting and EU (for now)
jazz452 said:
Agreed and I skipped rooting and EU (for now)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm really confused now.
I thought my Global 8.0.7 ROM was the 'normal' China ROM.
Is it a VENDOR ROM? Is it obvious because it came with Gapps installed?
Also, how do you know this has malware on it? Kaspersky doesn't find anything on it.
Anyway, I better flash the official China ROM now - the EU one sounds more suitable (since I'm in the UK) but it's not official is it so ANYTHING might be in that.
Thanks.
Hid Sugiura said:
I'm really confused now.
I thought my Global 8.0.7 ROM was the 'normal' China ROM.
Is it a VENDOR ROM? Is it obvious because it came with Gapps installed?
Also, how do you know this has malware on it? Kaspersky doesn't find anything on it.
Anyway, I better flash the official China ROM now - the EU one sounds more suitable (since I'm in the UK) but it's not official is it so ANYTHING might be in that.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't think they do put spyware on never found anything, no updates is the killer for me, they probably aren't allowed to mess with official ROM and keep the same numbers plus updates would probably mess up Google apps.
I went with stable China as it has English language and didn't want to TWRP at the moment. OTA updates aren't available on EU ROM ATM although first custom ROM is out with OTA based on EU ROM see forum. I installed Google apps from the mi store with no issues once all permissions were granted.
jazz452 said:
Don't think they do put spyware on never found anything, no updates is the killer for me
I went with stable China as it has English language and didn't want to TWRP at the moment. OTA updates aren't available on EU ROM ATM although first custom ROM is out with OTA based on EU ROM see forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, so this ROM I have is some sort of weird ROM put on by Gearbest (where I got it from). Who developed it and has it been confirmed that there is malware on it?
Reading up on it, I can see how to install: China stable V8.0.12.0.MAHCNDI
Download ROM. Copy to root directory of phone.
Go into Settings/updates/reboot to recovery mode and install the Zip.
Is that right? Since it's not an update, do I have to wipe the phone in recovery?
I'm a bit loathed to do it cos:
a) This is a rather expensive phone from China which makes it a bit hairy. I've flashed ROMs on cheaper devices before but...
b) It's currently running dandy.. everything is fast and smooth and everything WORKS but this thing about spyware and malware I find worrying (even tho I can't seem to find any proof of this.) But yeah, lack of updates is a problem.
Does anyone have a link on an idiots guide on how to go from Vendor to China Stable Official?
There's a thread on this forum about this but it kinda says you need TWRP and Root etc.
If I put China Stable, do I need to root it to put on Gapps?
Will China ROM stop my banking apps to work?
jazz452 said:
Don't think they do put spyware on never found anything, no updates is the killer for me, they probably aren't allowed to mess with official ROM and keep the same numbers plus updates would probably mess up Google apps.
I went with stable China as it has English language and didn't want to TWRP at the moment. OTA updates aren't available on EU ROM ATM although first custom ROM is out with OTA based on EU ROM see forum. I installed Google apps from the mi store with no issues once all permissions were granted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another question... since I have the Vendor ROM on it, does it mean that my bootloader is unlocked already?
Hid Sugiura said:
Another question... since I have the Vendor ROM on it, does it mean that my bootloader is unlocked already?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The updater app has been disabled on this ROM, there is a guide (under guides) how to flash from vendor rom to China stable mine came from gearbest and was unlocked. No need TWRP or root. No rush your home won't set on fire with vendor rom just read a few times till you are sure of what you are doing. mi flash is used for flashing ROMs with xiaomi.
Hid Sugiura said:
I'm really confused now.
I thought my Global 8.0.7 ROM was the 'normal' China ROM.
Is it a VENDOR ROM? Is it obvious because it came with Gapps installed?
Also, how do you know this has malware on it? Kaspersky doesn't find anything on it.
Anyway, I better flash the official China ROM now - the EU one sounds more suitable (since I'm in the UK) but it's not official is it so ANYTHING might be in that.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use Malwarebytes on the Vendor ROM, it flags the MIUI Notes app as "Agent.downloader.Trojan". Check it out! I didn't even sign in on the phone until I could get the EU ROM flashed. Not saying that Vendors deliberately inject their ROMS with malware. Just saying there can always be that one hacker dude who is compiling these ROMS for the vendors.
From what it looks like, most vendors are given a flashable signed zip file that can be flashed using official recovery, the file is named MIUI Global 8.0.7.0 or 8.0.8.0 (Mine came with 8.0.8.0).
So when most vendors receive stock, guess they unbox it, flash this zip file most probably via the official MIUI recovery, run the diagnostic test and if everything passes, they box the item and ship it out. Most vendors may have staff who are trained to copy the flashable zip file via MTP, boot stock recovery and flash! It doesn't take a genius to do that and its done it 5 minutes.
I am on the EU ROM. Even though unofficial, these MIUI EU ROMS have been there since the beginning of MIUI and no one ever had any reliability issues with the EU ROM. The ROM has no bloatware and comes with GAPPS pre-installed.
---------- Post added at 02:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:19 AM ----------
Hid Sugiura said:
Another question... since I have the Vendor ROM on it, does it mean that my bootloader is unlocked already?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not necessarily! Mine came with a vendor ROM and bootloader locked. This is why I assume that Vendors are given a Signed ROM file which can be flashed using the official MI Recovery. I don' t think every vendor has the skills to unlock bootloader and flash a vendor ROM after installing a custom recovery. Its a time consuming process.
If they already have a Signed customized ROM file that can be flashed using the official recovery, its as easy as copying the ZIP file to the phone and flashing it via the recovery. Takes hardly 5-10minutes.
Thank you very much for your replies - much appreciated.
As soon as I read your post, I did Malwarebytes and that found nothing - apart from saying I should switch off NFC so that's a little more comforting. As I said, Kaspersky hasn't found anything.
So, the China Stable is the ONLY official ROM there is - the vendor and EU ones are equally unofficial and neither have OTA updates.
OK more questions:
Some people say China Stable is the way to go cos of the updates.
1) Is the bloatware that bad? Can't I just ignore it? haha
2) Does it need rooting to put Gapps on it? Rooting is a no no for me cos certain apps won't run with it.
If I go the EU ROM, cos of the built in Gapps, can it be updated without wiping every time?
Thanks for all your help.
Hid Sugiura said:
Thank you very much for your replies - much appreciated.
As soon as I read your post, I did Malwarebytes and that found nothing - apart from saying I should switch off NFC so that's a little more comforting. As I said, Kaspersky hasn't found anything.
So, the China Stable is the ONLY official ROM there is - the vendor and EU ones are equally unofficial and neither have OTA updates.
OK more questions:
Some people say China Stable is the way to go cos of the updates.
1) Is the bloatware that bad? Can't I just ignore it? haha
2) Does it need rooting to put Gapps on it? Rooting is a no no for me cos certain apps won't run with it.
If I go the EU ROM, cos of the built in Gapps, can it be updated without wiping every time?
Thanks for all your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should go with EU rom, or custom rom which is starting to appear now. The worst rom to go for imo is the China one, and I find it a bit strange some people want to go for that due to OTA update. OTA update is not such a big deal, you get more update with EU or custom rom and no, you don't need to wipe data, it is so simple and easy to do manual update.
If you are totally beginner then maybe you find the OTA update easier, but at the same time if you are totally beginner you will find it hard to get china rom to become stable and usable. By the way the new custom rom also has OTA update, if you really want that.
So in short, I see almost no reason to stay in China rom, unless you find selecting zip file and flashing rom "too hard". But it's really quite easy to learn.
Mine from gearbest has unlocked bootloader but slightly different number than yours 8.0.8, it's easy to check from fastboot plenty of threads on here.
---------- Post added at 11:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:22 AM ----------
satishp said:
If you use Malwarebytes on the Vendor ROM, it flags the MIUI Notes app as "Agent.downloader.Trojan". Check it out! I didn't even sign in on the phone until I could get the EU ROM flashed. Not saying that Vendors deliberately inject their ROMS with malware. Just saying there can always be that one hacker dude who is compiling these ROMS for the vendors.
From what it looks like, most vendors are given a flashable signed zip file that can be flashed using official recovery, the file is named MIUI Global 8.0.7.0 or 8.0.8.0 (Mine came with 8.0.8.0).
So when most vendors receive stock, guess they unbox it, flash this zip file most probably via the official MIUI recovery, run the diagnostic test and if everything passes, they box the item and ship it out. Most vendors may have staff who are trained to copy the flashable zip file via MTP, boot stock recovery and flash! It doesn't take a genius to do that and its done it 5 minutes.
I am on the EU ROM. Even though unofficial, these MIUI EU ROMS have been there since the beginning of MIUI and no one ever had any reliability issues with the EU ROM. The ROM has no bloatware and comes with GAPPS pre-installed.
---------- Post added at 02:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:19 AM ----------
Not necessarily! Mine came with a vendor ROM and bootloader locked. This is why I assume that Vendors are given a Signed ROM file which can be flashed using the official MI Recovery. I don' t think every vendor has the skills to unlock bootloader and flash a vendor ROM after installing a custom recovery. Its a time consuming process.
If they already have a Signed customized ROM file that can be flashed using the official recovery, its as easy as copying the ZIP file to the phone and flashing it via the recovery. Takes hardly 5-10minutes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Xiaomi hate vendor ROMs that's why they lock bootloader, no one wants a bad name with spyware installed on their phones.
RIGHT! Thank you again for all your replies and advice.
I'm gonna do:
1) Find out if it's unlocked and get that done if necessary.
2) Install the EU one knowing now that updates don't wipe the phone.
My fear is that somewhere in between having an unlocked bootloader (which I might have already) and having the EU ROM, I lose the ability to use my Barclays Banking apps. I definitely know that it won't work with root but I also know that unlocked bootloaders and custom ROMs aren't the same as being rooted.
However, the fear of this vendor ROM being a security hazard gives me the heebie jeebies so I'll follow the kind advice given and put on the EU ROM.
Thanks for now!
Hid Sugiura said:
RIGHT! Thank you again for all your replies and advice.
I'm gonna do:
1) Find out if it's unlocked and get that done if necessary.
2) Install the EU one knowing now that updates don't wipe the phone.
My fear is that somewhere in between having an unlocked bootloader (which I might have already) and having the EU ROM, I lose the ability to use my Barclays Banking apps. I definitely know that it won't work with root but I also know that unlocked bootloaders and custom ROMs aren't the same as being rooted.
However, the fear of this vendor ROM being a security hazard gives me the heebie jeebies so I'll follow the kind advice given and put on the EU ROM.
Thanks for now!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck! Just to let you know i am on EU ROM with bootloader unlocked and rooted, i can still use Paypal and HSBC Banking apps. I don't use Barclays so can't comment on that.
OK I'm following the guide on XDA under Guides: Guide: Flash Global/China ROM.
I've checked that the bootloader is unlocked - which it is.
I've done point 7:
copy the latest xiaomi.eu rom zip to your device (which you can see in your computer's explorer as a device)
But when I use the command to get the phone into TWRP, the screen is unresponsive so I can't Swipe to Unlock.
I've waited for minutes as suggested on other sites but to no avail.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Hid Sugiura said:
OK I'm following the guide on XDA under Guides: Guide: Flash Global/China ROM.
I've checked that the bootloader is unlocked - which it is.
I've done point 7:
copy the latest xiaomi.eu rom zip to your device (which you can see in your computer's explorer as a device)
But when I use the command to get the phone into TWRP, the screen is unresponsive so I can't Swipe to Unlock.
I've waited for minutes as suggested on other sites but to no avail.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you don't root remember to flash dm-verify before you boot phone or will boot loop. TWRP unresponsive is known have a search
Again, thanks for helping me.
So, found the right TWRP for my phone. For others having the same non-responsive screen, don't install the TWRP that has RC1 or RC2 EU in the file name.
Thanks to the guy above for telling me to install dm-verity before rebooting. I would never have known that.
It installed - but there was a slight strangeness.
I expected the phone to be totally wiped and set to default but everything was as I had set it.
I checked the About Phone and it is now MIUI 8.2 by xiaomi.eu 6.12.29 Beta.
Everything works and is set up as before when I was on Vendor Rom.
Am I safer now?
Hid Sugiura said:
Again, thanks for helping me.
So, found the right TWRP for my phone. For others having the same non-responsive screen, don't install the TWRP that has RC1 or RC2 EU in the file name.
Thanks to the guy above for telling me to install dm-verity before rebooting. I would never have known that.
It installed - but there was a slight strangeness.
I expected the phone to be totally wiped and set to default but everything was as I had set it.
I checked the About Phone and it is now MIUI 8.2 by xiaomi.eu 6.12.29 Beta.
Everything works and is set up as before when I was on Vendor Rom.
Am I safer now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was fate TWRP failed, could of been in a whole heap trouble, although not to the point of brick
Good stuff that you managed to get the EU ROM on. You didn't actually need to install TWRP if you just wanted to flash the China ROM though, EDL mode with the stock image on full clear would've been fine but don't worry about it. Gearbest get their stock from other suppliers who are the ones that put the vendor ROM on apparently, but I can't confirm that.
A good order to do things if you've identified you have a vendor ROM would be:
Flash the China ROM with EDL mode with the flash tool set to Flash all (using other options will keep your apps and settings on the vendor ROM but I have no idea if that means it'll keep any trojans or spyware installed)
Boot up the phone and set it up
If you're happy with the China ROM then call it a day then optionally use the Google Installer v2 from the Xiaomi forums if you need GApps (you may have to tinker with the GApps permissions if some things aren't syncing right).
If not then you could flash twrp-3.0.2-0-rc2-eu-lithium.img, flash on the EU ROM and optionally SuperSU for root and also optionally Xposed, then enjoy a preconfigured GApps with no Chinese apps that you aren't too likely to use plus extra languages!
If you are rooted then I'd recommend adding the following line in your build.prop to enable the Camera2 API:
Code:
persist.camera.HAL3.enabled=1
Personally, I'm still waiting on a CM port though, MIUI is too aggressive in killing my apps even though I have like 4.2 GB of RAM free even with all the relevant power settings, app settings, app locks, dev settings etc off. Android Wear functions better after disabling those power settings at least, I sat there scratching my head for a while wondering why the heck my watch wasn't showing any notifications.
Dear friends,
A couple of months ago i bought a Redmi 4 Prime (3gigs) from gearbest. Even though the phone Info states that its running MIUI Global 8.1.2.0.0 (MBEMIDI) i know its not the official firmware, since i got it delivered with Danish Language out of the box, well knowing Xiaomi doesnt provide danish language in any of there ROMs.
I was stupid enough to tell friends how satisfied i was with the phone, which resulted in them ordering the same phone last week...
Unfortunatly the phones are now shipped with the Original Xiaomi Global rom, that of course doesnt provide Danish language, and my friends are extremely disappointed. I promised i would try to find a solution.
So i find myself with a couple of options, and would be interested in knowing what options i can opt for.
1-Since our phones have the same spec, is there anyway i can make a backup of my system/rom and flash it on theres?
2- Is there anyway i can download the Rom that was installed on my phone and flash it on theres? so far, gearbest has not replied me with the location of the ROM they installed on my phone
3- Is there any software/guide around as how to decompile a Rom and manually add or modify languages, so that i can manually start translating every file? i have tried to apply for official danish translation at the MIUI crowdin, but the dev hasnt answered my requests in the last 6 months.
4- Locality is also a problem, as Denmark is not in the list, is there anyway to change that? It doesnt matter much, so far i'm running it as "germany" which is the same timezone.
5- I dont mind flashing Ressurection or Lineage, but would really like to run the original ROM and modify language files, is this a hopeless task? I have alot of time on my hands i really wouldnt mind translating from repo in order to aid the community.
Thank you for taking time to read my post, i hipe you can provide with some insight. Cheers!
check this and this threads.
also if the rom is from xiaomi.eu then it is an official/unoficial rom. those roms are approved by xiaomi.
Thank you for your reply. But how can it be an Official release when Danish language is never present on Xiaomi Roms? I can seem to find a release note, is there anyway to check if the Language is on the ROM before flashing it?
jesperhla said:
Thank you for your reply. But how can it be an Official release when Danish language is never present on Xiaomi Roms? I can seem to find a release note, is there anyway to check if the Language is on the ROM before flashing it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
first of all xiaomi has two channels of official roms. china and global and both of them have stable and experimental releases. some devices like ours lack experimental global. some devices may lack global roms all together, and only have china roms. about the languages check this
if i am not mistaken there is no danish language. BUT xiaomi.eu roms probably will have danish. i suggest, if you want danish, go search for xiaomi.eu rom to flash. if not just flash the latest global developer 8.2.4. BUT i suggest unlock bootloader first, if anything goes wrong you can fix it.
ttheodorou said:
first of all xiaomi has two channels of official roms. china and global and both of them have stable and experimental releases. some devices like ours lack experimental global. some devices may lack global roms all together, and only have china roms. about the languages check this
if i am not mistaken there is no danish language. BUT xiaomi.eu roms probably will have danish. i suggest, if you want danish, go search for xiaomi.eu rom to flash. if not just flash the latest global developer 8.2.4. BUT i suggest unlock bootloader first, if anything goes wrong you can fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Neither the global, eu, china or developpers versions have Danish as language...
Is there anyway to take the language from my "vendor" ROM and somehow integrate it into one of the Official roms of the same version, ex. 8.1.2.0.0?
jesperhla said:
Neither the global, eu, china or developpers versions have Danish as language...
Is there anyway to take the language from my "vendor" ROM and somehow integrate it into one of the Official roms of the same version, ex. 8.1.2.0.0?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is my understanding of the miui ecosystem. xiaomi launches miui china supporting the chineese and english language,and maybe a couple more, i'm not really sure.
then xiaomi.eu comes and adds a lot of others languages spoken in europe for the global rom. xiaomi.eu also has a few other sites under it f.e. https://xiaomi-miui.gr that translates the china roms into the greek language.
xiaomi.eu and its child sites also publish roms of there own that are officially approved by xiaomi. of course those are miui roms with a few optimizations and additions. there is also some importers (i know for sure for the oficial importer of xiaomi in Greece and Cyprus) that sell their phones with xiaomi.eu roms preinstalled with 2 years guarantee. that is what i meant official/unofficial roms. i also know that some shops from china (like gearbest) that sells phones with preinstalled (or the option for them to install them before shipping) xiaomi.eu roms.
now i have no idea how to add languages to a rom, you can google it. what i know for sure is that xiaomi.eu roms are good, they are as close to stock as possible and they are your best chance to find danish language if that is what you want.
Through Xiaomi's new policy phones manufactured for Chinese market
are not been able to run MIUI Global ROM and vice versa.
http://en.miui.com/thread-3831680-1-1.html
http://en.miui.com/thread-3822514-1-1.html
motherfkrs
if you dont have an unlocked bootloader it wont let you flash a global rom.
this is basicly to prevent people from buying chinese versions from aliexpress.
the problem is that these sellers open the bootloader and install a fake global rom / global rom on it...
if you have an unlocked bootloader you are fine, your playstore wont pass safety net though
...
Now Xiaomi Phones which are manufactured in China Factory/China Hardware, can't be able to run MIUI Global ROM with Locked Bootloader.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn... I should've bought global version proudly made in USA with American hardware...
I just hope LineageOS will come to our phone so I can be done with all the Miui Xiaomi BS
Are the call problems on global rom irrelevant to this?
or somehow Xiaomi made the global rom incompatible with Chinese models?
quincyquinn said:
I just hope LineageOS will come to our phone so I can be done with all the Miui Xiaomi BS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oooh, believe me, it will...
How are those AliExpress sellers unlocking the bootloader and installing fake global ROMs? Do they have an army of people making fake MIUI accounts and waiting for a month for an unlock code? Sounds to me like they use logic probes to flash the fake ROMs directly.
panospc said:
Are the call problems on global rom irrelevant to this?
or somehow Xiaomi made the global rom incompatible with Chinese models?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a good question.
If it is so, why would they do that?
What's the benefit of this for Xiaomi?
This looks very bad.
They can make all the excuses they want, but I think there's a pretty clear agenda here.
I'd be surprised if there's still a development community for any new Xiaomi phones in 6 months, given how fast this is deteriorating.
As long as they keep device price down, bootloader unlockable and release kernel sources everything will be fine with development community... That's all devs need.
MIUI fans are those that should worry...
Prices are likely to stay down.
The other two ... doubtful. Some people are already waiting 3 months for bootloader unlock codes. If that becomes the norm, that's development stone dead.
They've also done absolutely nothing about releasing kernels in a more timely fashion, despite promising it repeatedly over the last year. If anything they've gone up slightly.
People ignored the warning signs with Huawei, and others before them, or hoped for the best (I did). Look where we are now.
They actually released Max 3 kernel source pretty fast, less than a month after device launch...
https://github.com/MiCode/Xiaomi_Kernel_OpenSource/tree/nitrogen-o-oss?files=1
The thing is no custom roms coming out of China forums which makes me think this device has no China market success... That wasn't the case with first Max. Custom roms started popping up first week after release even without kernel source...
nijel8 said:
As long as they keep device price down, bootloader unlockable and release kernel sources everything will be fine with development community... That's all devs need.
MIUI fans are those that should worry...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is understanding real difference between the China & Global versions, how they decide to allow or not allow flashing of the 2 versions.
In the official announcement they imply this restriction is only for devices released under 2018.
On 4pda they seem to think that there is no actual hard difference ("model identifiers"?) between Global and Chinese Mi8, but there is for the respective Mi2s, for example.
If I read correctly.
https://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=906971&st=940#entry75262442
Looks like all restrictions are in bootloader - unlocking, ARB, market variant. There is no hardware differences/restrictions between any of the Max 3 variants period. Otherwise you will not be able to run different MIUI versions with unlocked bootloader.
devinfo partition keeps the bootloader unlocked status. Not sure where the bits defining China/Global device are kept... yet...
nijel8 said:
Looks like all restrictions are in bootloader - unlocking, ARB, market variant. There is no hardware differences/restrictions between any of the Max 3 variants period. Otherwise you will not be able to run different MIUI versions with unlocked bootloader.
devinfo partition keeps the bootloader unlocked status. Not sure where the bits defining China/Global device are kept... yet...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That may be but it's the people who flashed the Global Rom on a China device who have the problems
with phone calls / broken modem.
Would they have built in a restriction in the Global Rom so you could not install it on a
China device to work properly ???
We won't know till proper official Global rom shows up on en.miui.com. All I see right now are global roms from under the table so to speak full of bugs.
Most of us purchased the Mi Max 3 which was manufactured for the mainland China market, because the "global" variant of the phone was only released a few weeks ago in Singapore, Hong Kong, etc. If the official warning on the Xiaomi site that phone's manufactured for the Chinese market cannot flash global ROMs and vice versa, then our solution is to use the xiaomi.eu ROM. Xiaomi.eu is a modified version of the China ROM, but is entirely in English and other European languages with full Google framework services. The MIUI 10 8.8.9 China weekly development ROM available from xiaomi.eu is rock solid. Once Xiaomi releases a China stable MIUI 10 ROM for the Mi Max 3, xiaomi.eu will tweak and release it for the English speaking world, so for those who bought their Max 3's before a global variant was manufactured will be fine as long as they use xiaomi.eu.
nijel8 said:
They actually released Max 3 kernel source pretty fast, less than a month after device launch...
https://github.com/MiCode/Xiaomi_Kernel_OpenSource/tree/nitrogen-o-oss?files=1
The thing is no custom roms coming out of China forums which makes me think this device has no China market success... That wasn't the case with first Max. Custom roms started popping up first week after release even without kernel source...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really hope that you will create some amazing custom roms for us
nijel8 said:
They actually released Max 3 kernel source pretty fast, less than a month after device launch...
https://github.com/MiCode/Xiaomi_Kernel_OpenSource/tree/nitrogen-o-oss?files=1
The thing is no custom roms coming out of China forums which makes me think this device has no China market success... That wasn't the case with first Max. Custom roms started popping up first week after release even without kernel source...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd be very surprised if this isn't selling well (very well) in China. It's an incredible value proposition, and large screen & large battery are seen as very desirable in both that and other Asian markets.
However, I think the 3 month wait for BL unlock *is* the norm now for Chinese and select other Asian users .. whereas rest of the world it appears to be totally random. Could be a couple of hours or it could be 3 months.
I think you'll find that's the reason why there's little to no Chinese development activity. As I said ... thin end of the wedge, IMO.